Tokyo's Narita International Airport Is Getting Biometric Boarding

Passengers at Narita will get a photo taken at self check-in, which will then be cross-referenced with facial scans to verify their identity.

T.M. Detwiler

Last week, we wrote about how U.S. airlines were vying for more flights to Tokyo Haneda Airport, which is closer to the city center. But this week, the news is all about Tokyo's Narita International Airport. The city's major airport recently announced that come spring 2020, it would introduce facial-recognition technology that allows passengers to board planes without showing their passport or boarding passes, according to the Japan Times. The move would make Narita Japan's first airport to use facial recognition technology for boarding, rather than document checks.

At this point, details about just how it will all work are scarce, but here's what we do know: When passengers enter boarding pass and passport information at check-in kiosks, they'll also have a photo taken. This photo will then be used to cross-reference identity at various checkpoints—like when dropping off a bag or moving through security. (Passengers will still need to produce a physical passport and boarding pass at customs and immigration control.) The technology will first be put into place for Japan's biggest carriers, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, before adopted by other airlines.

If you're thinking you've already been hearing a lot about biometric boarding at airports around the world, you'd be correct: the U.S. and Europe are actually at the forefront of using this technology. As Traveler's Barbara Peterson previously reported, 15 U.S. airports—including Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, Boston’s Logan, Los Angeles’s LAX, and New York’s JFK—are in various stages of testing this technology with airline partners, including British Airways, Delta, JetBlue, and Lufthansa. Delta even opened an all-biometric terminal at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson in December 2018. Say cheese?